Stephen Ashley on trial: 'I pulled my gun out and I shot him. I thought he was going to shoot me.'

BAY CITY, MI — Testifying in his own trial, Stephen P. Ashley Jr. recalled how personal troubles and his involvement with various drugs culminated in his killing Lonnie L. Houston Jr., an action he committed out of mortal fear and now regrets.

Throughout his testimony, Ashley leaned forward to speak into the microphone, appearing composed and focused. His voice was even and resonant, his speech clear and unfaltering. He reiterated on multiple occasions that he had no intention of killing or robbing Houston, but was afraid Houston would kill him.

Ashley said he began smoking marijuana when he was 15, after his parents divorced. A couple of years later, Ashley tore his ACL while playing a football game, an injury that effectively ended his career as an athlete.

Ashley’s injury required surgery and he eventually grew addicted to prescription painkiller Percocet, suffering intense withdrawal when his mother took away the pills. Later still, Ashley found an abundance of prescription pills in his home, he said.

“I start to take them, I start to use them, I start to sell them,” he testified. He ended up using marijuana, pills and alcohol on a daily basis. Though his grades dropped sharply, he managed to graduate from high school. He enrolled in classes at Saginaw Valley State University, but dropped out after a short time, he said.

A friend introduced him to cocaine and they snorted it together through a rolled-up $100 bill.

"He told me you should always snort cocaine through a $100 bill," Ashley said. "He said it's better that way. He told me you should always snort cocaine on the left side, with your left nostril. He said it works better that way."

The man threw his head back in exhilaration after snorting the first line. "The sounds he was making made it sound almost orgasmic," Ashley said. Ashley snorted the next line and said it was the best feeling of his life.

That night, he and his friend bought cocaine four times, with Ashley spending $300 to $400 of his own money, he said.

Ashley ended up using cocaine semi-regularly, he said.

In late October 2011, Ashley went to the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant with friends Kaleb S. Rosin, Brett E. Vaughn and another man. While there, Ashley ran into Houston, 27, whom he had met previously.

"He tells me to take his number and to get ahold of him," he says. "I know it wasn't to hang out. I assumed he wanted me to make cocaine transactions with him, either to buy it or sell it for him."

Ashley began selling cocaine for Houston in incremental amounts. In November, Houston gave Ashley an ounce to sell, Ashley said.

"I was really excited but I was also kinda scared," Ashley says. "I told him, 'I don't think I can sell it,’ and he tells me he knows I can sell it and he doesn't want to be driving around with it.”

Ashley told Houston he was afraid of being robbed for the cocaine and asked for a gun. Houston lifted up his shirt to display the handle of a gun and said, "You don't need a gun. You have any problems, you call me," Ashley testified. Houston told Ashley he wanted $1,000 or $1,100 for the drugs, Ashley says.

Ashley, Rosin and Vaughn used most of the cocaine and Ashley lost another large portion, he said. He eventually had only 5 grams left, with little money to show for it.

On Nov. 13, Ashley contacted Houston to see if he would front him more drugs. He also decided to get a gun first, as Ashley was frightened Houston would kill him. He added that Houston never threatened him.

That night, Ashley, Rosin and Vaughn went to a trailer park and bought a .22-caliber pistol from a teen. Ashley gave the teen a quarter gram of cocaine and two speakers, and promised him an additional $100 later, he testified.

Later, Ashley contacted Houston and asked to meet up to procure more drugs from him. Ashley, Rosin and Vaughn went to the Meijer gas station parking lot in Hampton Township, where Ashley was picked up by an abnormally quiet Houston in a white Cadillac.

"First thing he (usually) does is ask how you're doing, start a conversation with you,” Ashley said. “He doesn't usually just sit there."

Houston drove to a parking lot on Youngs Ditch Road, Ashley said. Parked in the lot, Ashley asked Houston for a cigarette. They sat smoking, not talking, Ashley said.

"I just keep looking off to the left," Ashley said. "He asked me what the (expletive) I'm looking at." Houston turned toward Ashley and moved his right arm toward his waist, Ashley said.

"I thought he was reaching for his gun," he said. "I pulled my gun out and I shot him. I thought he was going to shoot me."

Ashley said he fired once, then tossed the gun to the floor and jumped out. He grabbed the gun and heard a movement. "I picked the gun up and I shot it again," he says.

Klimaszewski asked Ashley why he shot Houston.

"I thought he was going to kill me,” he said. “I fired the gun, then I panicked, I freaked out. I threw the gun on the floor and hopped out as quick as I could. I started pacing back and forth, thinking about what the (expletive) I just did. I couldn't believe I just killed him."

Ashley, Rosin and Vaughn then moved the Cadillac to another location and searched it. They took more than $800 and other items, with Ashley keeping more than $400 and giving the rest to his friends, he said.

They later drove the car to River Road in Zilwaukee Township, where Ashley tried driving it into the Saginaw River. When the car ended up stuck on rocks, Ashley torched it, he said.

The three men eventually went to northern Bay County and tossed the evidence in the Kawkawlin River, Ashley said.

Ashley said he was deeply ashamed for what he had done, especially after learning Houston did not have a gun on him when killed. He later learned through media reports that Houston was a father.

“It made me feel even worse,” he said. “I would never want to see a child grow up without their father. I wish I had never done it.”

Bay County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Nancy E. Borushko is to cross-examine Ashley, who faces first-degree murder, open murder and seven other charges in connection with Houston’s death, at 1:45 p.m.